The Effect of Different Surfactants and Polyelectrolytes on Nano-Vesiculation of Artificial and Cellular Membranes

Nano- and micro-sized vesicular and colloidal structures mediate cell-cell communication. They are important players in the physiology of plants, animals, and humans, and are a subject of increasing interest. We investigated the effect of three surfactants, N-cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and Triton X-100 (TX100), and two anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium polystyrene sulfonate (NaPSS) and sodium polymethacrylate (NaPMA), on nanoliposomes. In addition, the effect of SDS and TX100 on selected biological membranes (erythrocytes and microalgae) was investigated. The liposomes were produced by extrusion and evaluated by microcalorimetry and light scattering, based on the total intensity of the scattered light (<i>I</i>_tot), hydrodynamic radius (<i>R</i>_h), radius of gyration (<i>R</i>_g), shape parameter <i>p</i> (=<i>R</i>_h/<i>R</i>_g,0), and polydispersity index. The EPs shed from erythrocytes and microalgae <i>Dunaliella tertiolecta</i> and <i>Phaeodactylum tricornutum</i> were visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The <i>R</i>_h and <i>I</i>_tot values in POPC liposome suspensions with added CPC, SDS, and TX100 were roughly constant up to the respective critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) of the surfactants. At higher compound concentrations, <i>I</i>_tot dropped towards zero, whereas <i>R</i>_h increased to values higher than in pure POPC suspensions (<i>R</i>_h ≈ 60-70 nm), indicating the disintegration of liposomes and formation of larger particles, i.e., various POPC-S aggregates. Nanoliposomes were stable upon the addition of NaPSS and NaPMA, as indicated by the constant <i>R</i>_h and <i>I</i>_tot values. The interaction of CPC, SDS, or TX100 with liposomes was exothermic, while there were no measurable heat effects with NaPSS or NaPMA. The SDS and TX100 increased the number density of EPs several-fold in erythrocyte suspensions and up to 30-fold in the conditioned media of <i>Dunaliella tertiolecta</i> at the expense of the number density of cells, which decreased to less than 5% in erythrocytes and several-fold in <i>Dunaliella tertiolecta</i>. The SDS and TX100 did not affect the number density of the microalgae <i>Phaeodactylum tricornutum</i>, while the number density of EPs was lower in the conditioned media than in the control, but increased several-fold in a concentration-dependent manner. Our results indicate that amphiphilic molecules need to be organized in nanosized particles to match the local curvature of the membrane for facilitated uptake. To pursue this hypothesis, other surfactants and biological membranes should be studied in the future for more general conclusions.